republican senator lindsay graham expressing optimism on deal and president obama is calling out lawmakers for rejecting offers for last month. >> what do you think the chances of a small deal in the less 48 hours to avoid the cliff? >> exceedingly good. i think what have we accomplished, a political vick for the president. the president has stood his ground. he is going to get tax rate increases but upper income americans and sad news for the country we have accomplished very little of not becoming greece. this won't affect the debt situation. it will be a political victory for the president and i hope we'll have the courage of our convictions when it comes time to raise the debt ceiling to fight for what we believe in. but hats off to the president. >> we have been talking to the republicans since the election has been over. they have had trouble to say yes to a number of repeated offers. >> so what kind of deal if any can we expect before the clock runs out? joining us for a fair balanced debate, tony is here, national political correspondent for talk radio news service and fox news con